Cast iron can certainly be a mess until properly seasoned—you have to coat inside with lard, then cook upside down in a 400 degree oven (put foil or a catch pan under the skillet to catch the drippings) for an hour. Then leave in the oven until it cools to the touch—another hour or two.

With foods that have a high sugar content, like spaghetti sauce, you have to cook low and slow with cast iron. They are much more likely to burn in recently seasoned pans. However, once properly seasoned and cooked-in for years (and cleaned properly) it is better than any non-stick pan.

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Possum—The other white meat!

You bring up a great point. There's something intriguing about an item that was an everyday tool in its time. That we can treasure them AND use them is the key. Quite unlike collecting something like paintings or stamps. Old guns and old cast iron seem to connect me to the past.

"Better"

In what way?

I made sure my son was home last time I used it, so he could clean it. I didn't want to do it wrong. It was bizarre. He even used salt. I repeat my point, cleaning is too elaborate, and I don't see it being worth the trouble - even if he does the work.

If I were were a professional cook and used it every day, I could see where it would be a valuable tool. But to me, for occasional use it is more trouble than it is worth.

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I've still got it made.

So true. I have but 1 Lodge pan (a #9 IIRC), that is used just for cornbread.

Everything else is pre WWII Griswold. It is said Griswold used a certain iron ore that was a very fine grain that was depleted during WWII.

I also did research on Griswold before hitting eBay and scored some very nice, well used pieces. This was shortly before people started using them for display rather than what they were intended for and REALLY drove the prices up. More than once, the shipping was more than the cost of the item.

My particular favorite is a #5 skillet which is perfect for 2 fried eggs. My wife's is the 5qt dutch ovens (we have 2), which she uses to make stew, shortribs, and the like in the oven.

For cleaning, no, do Not use soap. Kosher salt is the key, even if it sounds counter intuitive. If any thing is stuck to the bottom, add about 1" of water, bring to a slow boil and after cooling, finish with the Kosher salt. Rinse with warm water and then rub with a little lard (after dry), then warm in the oven.

This long process is usually only needed every 4 or 5 uses. Most of the time, a quick wipe with a little lard is all that's needed, or even just a quick wipe with a paper towel.

If you're frying something, the quick wipe is usually all that's needed. You'll see as you go along.

Rob

Aldi put these on sale today: a 10" long handled Crofton Cookware cast iron skillet for $10.

We are going to grab a few as it wouldn't hurt to have extras if we need them. We will also give my daughters one each as they camp out occasionally.

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Music/Sports/Beer fan

My wife cooked her chili in a 12" Lodge we've been using for about 5 years. Uncleaned it sat on the stove top overnight. It does not have that evenly deep black seasoned finish but this afternoon I took it outside and squirted it clean with a garden hose. Wiped it dry with a paper towel and was done.

People tend to make cleanup more elaborate than it needs to be. It is no more difficult than cleaning a regular pan. I too was first told to use coarse salt as a scouring media to clean it out. Very messy and completely unnecessary. Soap and water is fine and will do it no harm and will not degrade the seasoning, although I normally just use water if anything is stuck on. Otherwise I just wipe it out with a paper towel. To avoid rust, completely dry it, warm on the stove top, then give it a wipe down with a dab of olive oil.

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Common sense isn't so common.

^^^^Agree 100%. The vast majority of my clean up is simply wiping the cast iron out with a paper towel or damp wash cloth. I am by no means a professional cook, but I cook in cast iron every day. I even recently got a set of cast iron pots too—Le Creuset. They are a complete extravagance but are magnificent cookware.

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Possum—The other white meat!

This thread has me looking for a vintage Griswold or Wagner Ware ~10" griddle.
Haven't got room for it in the pots and pans drawer, so yesterday I gave my nephew (a great cook) two Birmingham Stove and Range skillets, a #8 and a #5, to clear out some shelf space.
This Forum costs me money every time I turn around...

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John

Money well spent..... You will enjoy the griddle for many years to come!!

If you need any more encouragement, I have attached a pic of a bread pudding that I made last week.....

Cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, vanilla, apples, cranberries, pecans, and a healthy coating of Grand Marnier glaze....

Life is good!!

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I LOVE my new cast iron pots too.

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Possum—The other white meat!

That’s a beautiful set up! If I had that equipment, I would probably just move a bed into the kitchen and live in there. No need for anything else.....

Homage to the Viking!

Maybe a toilet?

Bought 2 skillets for each of my brothers last Christmas along with food stuff to make grilled cheese. This year I think maybe the corn bread skillet

Good point... would likely need that as well....

SKILLET TAMALE PIE

Filling
1-1/2 pounds lean ground beef
1/2 onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 or 2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 small can Las Palmas Medium Red Enchilada Sauce
1/2 cup frozen corn
1 small can sliced black olives

Cornmeal Crust
4 cups cold water
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 1/2 cups yellow cornmeal

In a large (#10) skillet, mostly brown ground beef. Add garlic and bell pepper, cook a little (about 5 minutes) then add onion, enchilada sauce and stir everything together. Get everything to a nice medium simmer.

Turn oven on to 375°F. Put the cornmeal, chili powder, and salt in a deep saucepan. Add the cold water and over medium heat, whisk until thickened (about 15 minutes). Do not let burn. Stir, stir and stir some more. Once thickened, remove from heat, stir a little and set aside.

Add olives and corn to the simmering skillet, stir until well mixed. Spread cornmeal mixture over top and smooth out, completely covering the filling. Bake at 375° for 45 minutes, add optional sprinkling of cheddar cheese & serve.

Cottage Pie

Ingredients

• 1-1/2 to 2 pounds potatoes (about 3 large potatoes), peeled and quartered
• 8 Tablespoons (1 stick) butter
• 1 medium onion, chopped (about 1-1/2 cups)
• 1-2 cups vegetables—diced carrots, corn, peas
• 1-1/2 lbs ground round beef
• 1/2 cup beef broth
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• Salt, pepper, other seasonings of choice

Method

1 Boil the potatoes: Place the peeled and quartered potatoes in medium sized pot. Cover with at least an inch of cold water. Add a teaspoon of salt. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook until tender (about 20 minutes).

2 Sauté vegetables: While the potatoes are cooking, melt 4 tablespoons of the butter in a large sauté pan on medium heat. Add the chopped onions and cook until tender, about 6 to 10 minutes.

If you are including vegetables, add them according to their cooking time. Carrots should be cooked with the onions, because they take as long to cook as the onions do.

If you are including peas or corn, add them toward the end of the cooking of the onions, or after the meat starts to cook, as they take very little cooking time.

3 Add the ground beef, then Worcestershire sauce and broth: Add ground beef to the pan with the onions and vegetables. Cook until no longer pink. Season with salt and pepper.

Add the Worcestershire sauce and beef broth. Bring the broth to a simmer and reduce heat to low. Cook uncovered for 10 minutes, adding more beef broth if necessary to keep the meat from drying out.

4 Mash the cooked potatoes: When the potatoes are done cooking (a fork can easily pierce), remove them from the pot and place them in a bowl with the remaining 4 Tbsp of butter. Mash with a fork or potato masher, and season with salt and pepper to taste.

5 Layer the meat mixture and mashed potatoes in a casserole dish: Preheat oven to 400°F. Spread the beef, onions, and vegetables (if using) in an even layer in a large baking dish (8x13 casserole). A large (#10) Cast Iron Skillet works best IMO.

Spread the mashed potatoes over the top of the ground beef. Rough up the surface of the mashed potatoes with a fork so there are peaks that will get well browned. You can even use a fork to make creative designs in the mashed potatoes.

6 Bake in oven: Place in a 400°F oven and cook until browned and bubbling, about 30 minutes. If necessary, broil for the last few minutes to help the surface of the mashed potatoes brown.

Just remember not to store your well seasoned cast iron pan in the bottom of the oven and then forget it is there when getting ready to bake something at 425F. (Like I did last week)

(Can give the smoke detectors quite a workout...)

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Dean
SWCA #680 SWHF #446

Skillet Pineapple Up-Side-Down Cake

The proportions in this recipe fit perfectly in a number 6 cast iron skillet. Use pineapple rings and maraschino cherries if you want to get fancy.

Cake

• 1-1/3 Cup Bisquick
• 3/4 Cup Milk
• 1/2 Cup Sugar
• 3 Tablespoons Melted Butter
• 1 Egg
• 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Topping (Bottom)

• 3 Tablespoons Melted Butter
• 1/3 Cup Brown Sugar
• I Can Crushed Pineapple

Preheat oven and skillet to 350 degrees. Drain pineapple well. Mix cake ingredients in mixing bowl, do not over mix, some lumps are okay. Melt topping butter in hot skillet. Add brown sugar to melted butter and mix well, making even coating on skillet bottom. Carefully add drained pineapple and spread evenly on skillet bottom, compacting a little bit till smooth. Pour cake batter into skillet and bake for 40 minutes at 350. Remove skillet and flip up-side-down on plate, keeping skillet on top of cake on plate. Let cool at least 20 minutes before carefully removing skillet so topping does not get disturbed.

I have two Lodge skillets that are only about 8 years old, and the insides are pretty coarse, and they came out of the box that way. Looks like a Really coarse sand casting surface. I want them smooth on the inside.
Should I use a die grinder with sandpaper discs, then finish with Scotchbrite wheels?
Is the workmanship just not as good as it used to be?

They used to mill the cooking surface of cast iron. Nothing wrong with the new stuff IMO as long as it's Lodge.

I made twice baked potato pancakes in my #8 this morning. I inherited my mom's cast iron when she passed. 100 year old Wagner pan end 8" dutch oven.

Mals

I made this tonight, absolutely superb! Thank you so much for posting this.

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Possum—The other white meat!

Can I have the leftovers for breakfast tomorrow?

That looks awesome!! Everything one could ask for......

For those that enjoy cooking in cast iron, I wanted share one of my favorite cookbooks. I have made many of the recipes in this book and they have all been excellent. The book also provides good pictures so you can see what the dish is supposed to look like when complete. Available on Amazon.

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SINCE YOU ASKED.

I bought a Lodge griddle. The 'Seasoned' one. About 10 inches square. Loop handle on one side and 'pan' handle on the other.

I hated it after I started using it.

The cooking surface was a rough sand cast and I didn't like using it on delicate things like frying eggs or omelets.

SO!

I took it to my shop and proceeded to hit the cooking surface with my Porter Cable ROS (Random Orbital Sander). I took the cooking surface down to bare butt silver shiny silver metal.
Then I took a square pad sander around the square edges that the ROS couldn't snug up to.

Yes, shiny silver metal.

Then I washed it clean with soap and water.

Then I rubbed the whole griddle down, inside and out, with Crisco. Laid it on pretty thick all over. Even the bottom and the handles.

Put it in a COLD oven (ha, room temp) upside down over a big layer of aluminum foil.

Turn the oven on to 475 degrees F.
After it heats up to set temperature set the timer for one hour.
After one hour shut off the oven.

DO NOT open the door.

Leave the pan in there until it reaches room temperature.

Iron oxides will bleed out of the pan and the grease on the foil will be a beautiful crimson red.

TIP: 475 degrees F is the 'smoke point' of Crisco. That is why you don't go any hotter, but, that is why you don't go colder also. It gets the job done.

Now when I use my griddle for eggs I put down a tablespoon of bacon grease, warm up the griddle and then crack the eggs on it.

After about a minute of 'cooking' I can easily take my steel spatula and slide it under the eggs. Or, I can just move the griddle around and watch the eggs slide.

I use that griddle almost daily.

It sits on my gas stove 100% of the time.

Ready and waiting.

I just can't abide by the Lodge terminology 'Seasoned'.

That's my story. Ha. YMMV.

bdGreen

This makes me smile. Thank you.

I have a new Lodge chicken fryer and I understand the surface you are talking about. Even though it’s not real smooth, mine still works very well and remains non-stick.

I also understand the benefits of a very smooth surface. My old (1900-1940) cast iron skillets are as smooth as glass on the inside of the pans.

Rather than altering the ones you have, I would suggest buying a vintage one (possibly on Etsy). Although fully refinished pans can get quite expensive, they will also have pans (for a lower price) that you can re-finished on your own. If you need some info on re-finishing, please let me know. I have done quite a few pans over time. Good luck!

My son ate half the pot the night before his big game and the other half after the game!

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Possum—The other white meat!

NEVER EVER coated a cast skillet and cooked it upside down........Why not right side up?..........My Wagner and Griswold tend to disagree.
Lots of different roads to town.....But they all end in the same place.

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S&W Accumulator

If you use too much oil, it will tend to pool in the bottom and create gooey splotches. Turning upside down prevents this.

I've found the outside grill does a much better job with seasoning than the oven - it gets much hotter. Most of the instructions I've seen use a temperature that is much too low.

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Common sense isn't so common.

This is correct. Upside down under high heat for one hour. Very thin coat of lard. I typically repeat the process three times when I’m re-seasoning a pan.

When you place them right side up, use too much lard, or too low heat they get sticky and uneven in the finish. It’s then a nightmare to get them back to where you want them.

I never use too much oil......I use Lard and wipe in and off with paper towels.....NO upside down needed.

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S&W Accumulator

Great for corn bread with jalapenos and fresh corn.


I've taken to baking my home made bacon. No curling (thick sliced). Into cold oven on cooling rack above sheet pan, turn oven to 400 and check it frequently. It usually takes about 20 minutes. Delicious! But then again I cured & smoked it,

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Keith
71Scamp

Did you ever see one of those fancy no-stick models that had been passed down from one generation to another like cast iron?